Russia, China negotiate over 30 joint projects worth over $100bn

Russia and China are discussing over 30 joint projects worth over $100 billion with the frames of the mutual economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said on Friday.
“We have set up an intergovernmental Russian-Chinese commission and recently discussed over 30 projects worth over $100 billion,” Dmitriev said addressing the International Investment Forum Sochi-2014.
The bilateral investment commission comprising both private and state-run companies gathered for its very first session in China last week.
“Asian investors are interested in Russia, however, it takes little longer than usual to establish relations with them and it is important that the relations are organized in a more system-like manner,” Dmitriev added.
The Intergovernmental Russia-China Commission for Investment, co-chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Vice-Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Zhang Gaoli, held its inaugural session early last week in the Chinese capital of Beijing.
Following the session Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Dmitriev was appointed a co-chair of the Commission’s Consultative Committee of Entrepreneurs representing the Russian side. Chairman and CEO of China Investment Corporation (CIC) Ding Xuedong was appointed to co-chair the committee on the Chinese side.
Russia and China have recently achieved a significant boost in their bilateral relations, primarily in the economic, energy, space and scientific as well as military spheres.
One of the milestone deals between the countries was the natural gas supply contract signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in May.
Russian energy giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a 30-year contract on Russian natural gas supplies to China via the eastern route worth a total of $400 billion.
Over the past few years, the two countries have noticeably increased the intensity of their contacts. China has become Russia’s major trade partner while Russia is in the top ten of China’s main trade partners. In 2002-2013, bilateral trade hiked from $12 billion to $89.2 billion.
Russia and China are planning to bring their bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion by 2015 and to $200 billion by 2020.